Proud in Santa Fe

We are in Santa Fe, camping at the cheap, cozy and very conveniently located Black Canyon Campground in the Santa Fe National Forest. From our "walk-in" campsite, beside a babbling brook that makes for great sleeping, it's 2.2 miles to the Santa Fe city limits, down a gorgeous, twisting mountain road.



When we arrived, our campground host suggested we might as well just ride our bikes right to our site, across a wooden walking bridge and down the paved path. It's been awesome!

We spent most of the day yesterday in town, having lunch at Cafe Pasqual's, one of our favorite restaurants anywhere (thanks for the tip, Jessie!), and waiting out the rain in a Kinko's Fedex to take care of various paperwork (the rebates from my new notebook, etc.). With the help of a really friendly Fedex staffer named Gabe (Jon and Jen, more evidence for your theory!), we created a sticker for my tank that announces our trajectory, and to accompany the Ski Builder sticker from Jon:



In the evening, we tried (unsuccessfully) to locate a big Bar-B-Queer party for Santa Fe's Gay Pride week, so we headed back to camp as the temps started dropping, for a campfire cooked meal of brats (mine meatless, of course) and kettle chips.

Thankfully, we had better luck today, were able to catch the Pride parade (smaller than back home, but no less enthusiastic).



Happy Pride, wherever you might be!

Our route, day 9, from the sand to Santa Fe

Day 9: Great Sand Dunes National Park to Santa Fe, NM with stops in Alamosa and San Luis (218 miles)

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Our route, day 8, along the Front Range and into the sand!

Yesterday, we decided to linger in Buena Vista, and set off late in the afternoon on a short day's ride recommended by John P., down the San Luis Valley, the jagged jaws of the Front Range on our left and lots of 14,000+ foot peaks on our right, dodging rain clouds, as we headed almost due south through a wide plain filled with scrub, signaling the desert ahead. Absolutely stunning. Thanks, John, for the tip!

We ended up at the Great Sand Dunes National Park, recommended by Jon O. and Dan H. Another great recommendation, and fitting transition into the desert. The sand dunes, nearly 700 feet tall, accumulate from sand blown across the plain from the west, and deposited by rivers flowing down from the east. It's as though you suddenly entered the Sahara!



I also led Julie and I on an exhilarating, if extremely ill-advised, ride down a "primitive road" along the dunes, part of which is only traversable by 4WD. The road was aptly named, as we quickly found ourselves scrambling over rough rocks, and then deep, soft sand. I felt that stomach-turning shift in the handbars several times as, while riding along, the sand suddenly grabbed the front wheel, causing it to turn suddenly to the right or left, with the momentum of the bike carrying it toward the ground on the opposite side. There were several times I was sure R2 was going down, and then the thoughts of repair bills and the self-recriminations of "who thought it was a good idea to take motorcycles we need to get us to Alaska down a sandy primitive road?"

Thankfully, and honestly, luckily, we make it to the "Point of No Return" (where only 4WD vehicles can proceed) and back without incident. And, I have to admit, the ride was a hell of a lot of fun!

Day 8: Buena Vista, CO to Great Sand Dunes National Park (109 miles)

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Another place to ride

Howdy, friends! The blog for our trip around the world is up, and you can find it here:

http://RidingOutTheRecession.blogspot.com/

Come pay us a visit!

Day 7, over Independence Pass

Wow, were we given the royal treatment in Vail! Wined, dined and offered a comfy spare bedroom by our new friends Dan and Sheika, it felt like we were arriving dignitaries. Great conversation, and what a great story! Sheika's dad, Pepi Gramshammer, was an Olympic skier and one of the founding members of the Vail business community. He opened a restaurant and hotel, the Hotel Gasthof Gramshammer, just a short saunter from the ski face named after him. It features his photos, massive trophy collection and food and decor from his homeland.



Dan and Sheika, pictured here in front of a photo of Sheika's mom and pop on skis, treated us to a visit to the restaurant, a nice stroll around Vail and lots of great conversation.

They also suggested some jaw-dropping rides, including the Glenwood Canyon (who knew that an Interstate could be such an amazing ride?!) and Independence Pass.

So yesterday, we headed west on I-70, visited Dan's shop, Holthammer Cycles, in Eagle, Colorado, adjusted Julie's windscreen, replaced a couple of bulbs on R2, and got a tour of the joint, which has been getting some press lately. [The online version of this article in the Vail Daily seems to come and go for some reason.]

After saying our farewells to Dan, we headed off through Glenwood Canyon for the Pass.

Ha! Google Maps won't take us over Independence Pass, but Julie and I did, and so I'll have to share our route in two parts:

Day 7: Sheika & Dan's in Vail, CO to Buena Vista over Independence Pass (~175 miles)

Part 1:

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Part 2:

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We arrived in Buena Vista, set our our tent overlooking the Collegiate Peaks (many over 14,000 feet) and headed into town for dinner. All told, a spectacular day of riding, scenery and time with friends. More to come!

Our route, day 6, partly with Dan and Sheika

Day 6: Denver to Vail, with friends and some extra mountain roads for fun (137 miles)

We left our old friends Jon and Jennifer in Denver, and met up with new friends Dan and Sheika in Silverthorne, for a spectacular ride through winding moutain roads, ending up in Vail. More on that to come!


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Jon, the Ski Builder

Jon and I met in a calculus class, and cemented our early friendship
on the ski slopes around the Twin Cities on Friday nights, when the
lift tickets were cheap, the hills often empty and the temperatures
were, at times, extreme.

Jon's love for the sport is evident following him (when I'm lucky
enough to keep up) down a piste or even more so, off the piste,
slaloming through trees, kicking up powder with each turn, and popping
into the air off of rocks or drop-offs. He's an artist with skis.

When he lived in Minneapolis, Jon would make regular trips to the
mountains, including one trip to Alta we took together. But being an
art teacher meant that getting away for an extended ski holiday during
ski (and school) season wasn't possible very often. So it was little
surprise to folks that know him when Jon decided to move to the
mountains, and make sure that he could get in his 30+ ski days each
season.

Jon's latest ski adventure is one of a different sort, however:
building his own skis! He has constructed an elaborate ski press in
the basement, which uses an air compressor, a fire hose and lots of
high-sheering-strength metal cross members and supports to sandwich
epoxy-coated layers of material together -- the base material and
metal edges, fiberglass, carbon fibers, a wooden core, metal screen
and a wooden veneer -- to form a ski. Fifteen hours of high pressure
later, viola, you have a ski.

Last night, we "laid up" (the term of art for the laminating process)
the skis he's planning to use next season. He's already sold a set on
commission, and I suspect his increasing grasp on the dynamics of the
fabrication process, and how it relates to the character of the
resulting skis, mean that more and more people will be riding planks
with Jon's characteristic simple, elegant design on them. I hope to
try them myself during my next visit in the winter.

In the meantime, creating a ski from raw materials was an
unforgettable experience to share with a friend. (Even if it meant the
air compressor was running every fifteen minutes all night long!) I
look forward to seeing the fruits of our labor, and Jon's design, today.